Associated Press photoBristol County Sheriff Thomas Hodgson gestures during a news conference in regard to the "Secure Communities" program, or "S Comm", held by Massachusetts county sheriffs at the Statehouse in Boston, Wednesday, Sept. 28, 2011. The program is designed to immediately check the immigration status of those arrested for crimes. Opponents say it will lead to profiling.

BOSTON – Several Massachusetts sheriffs and U.S. Sen. Scott P. Brown said Wednesday that Gov. Deval L. Patrick’s opposition to Secure Communities could push the state to the bottom of the list for implementation of the federal program aimed at identifying illegal immigrants who are arrested for crimes.

But federal immigration officials countered that the program, which is slated to be fully activated by the end of 2013, would be rolled out nationally according to a schedule that would not be influenced by the support – or lack thereof – from individual states or officials.

The issue has become increasingly contentious in Massachusetts, where critics of Patrick’s position have pointed to several recent crimes allegedly committed by illegal immigrants and contended that the crimes may have been prevented had Secure Communities been in effect.

Three Massachusetts sheriffs, accompanied by several lawmakers, held a news conference at the Statehouse on Wednesday to announce that they would seek to immediately implement elements of the federal program in their counties. The news conference was cut short after a group of immigrant advocates holding signs denouncing Secure Communities entered the room where it was being held and some attempted to shout their own questions at the sheriffs.

Under the program, fingerprints taken from a crime suspect by local law enforcement officials would be turned over to the FBI, who would then share the information with the Department of Homeland Security. If it appeared that a person was in the U.S. illegally, Immigration and Customs Enforcement could initiate deportation proceedings.

Critics say it could lead to profiling and increase tensions between police and immigrant communities.

Bristol County Sheriff Thomas Hodgson declared that Massachusetts was becoming a “magnet” for illegal immigrants who believe they will not be discovered in the state.

“We need to get Secure Communities faster than any other state,” Hodgson said. “It’s no secret that based on the kind of benefits that people are able to access here that, much like terrorists, they are looking for the place to go where no one will notice them.”

Hodgson speculated that Massachusetts would be considered for speedier implementation of the program if Patrick were supportive of it.

“That would move us up the chain as far as Washington is concerned, if they heard from this governor. But if they’re hearing that this governor doesn’t want it, they are obviously going to the states that do want it first,” said Hodgson, who was joined by two fellow Republicans, Worcester Sheriff Lewis Evangelidis and Joseph McDonald, sheriff of Plymouth County.

Brown, who did not attend the Statehouse event, on Wednesday released a letter to Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano, in which the Republican senator asked that Secure Communities be activated “swiftly and expeditiously” in Massachusetts.

Brown also expressed concern in his letter that Patrick’s opposition would make Massachusetts a “low priority” for implementation by ICE.

But federal officials say arguments offered for or against the program won’t impact the timing of its rollout.

“Because Secure Communities is fundamentally an information sharing program between two federal partners, the federal government makes the determination on when and where to activate it, based on the availability of federal resources,” Ross Feinstein, a spokesman for ICE, said in an e-mailed statement.

Patrick, a Democrat, has made a similar argument, saying that Secure Communities is a federal program that the state cannot opt in to or opt out of. In June, however, he instructed his public safety secretary to send a letter to Homeland Security stating that Patrick wouldn’t sign any memorandum of understanding for the state to join the program.

Patrick says police already turn fingerprints over to the FBI and he’s expressed concern that the federal program would lead to profiling and create distrust between immigrants and law enforcement.

Activists who crashed the sheriffs’ news conference on Wednesday agreed.

“Secure Communities is a program that is criminalizing people just because they don’t have the proper documentation to live and work in the United States,” said Patricia Montes, head of Centro Presente, a Latino immigrant rights organization.

The sheriffs declined to engage the protesters, saying the event was a news conference intended for reporters only. State police and park rangers arrived and asked the activists to leave the room, but they responded with the chant: “We have every right to speak.”

The news conference was then abruptly ended.

Among the events that reignited the Secure Communities controversy in Massachusetts was the death in August of a 23-year-old motorcyclist in Milford. Authorities said an illegal immigrant from Ecuador, who was driving a pickup truck drunk and without a license, struck Matthew Denice, dragged his body a quarter of a mile and then backed up over him.

On Monday, a Brazilian native who officials said may be in the U.S. illegally was arrested and charged with the fatal stabbing of his ex-girlfriend in Marshfield.

A bipartisan group of state lawmakers has unveiled a bill that among other things would crack down on illegal immigrants caught driving without a license and make it more difficult for them to live in public housing.